


Just for Tonight

by w_s



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-06 02:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8732155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_s/pseuds/w_s
Summary: Was re-watching "A Misunderstanding," and this popped into my head. Thought it was fun.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Was re-watching "A Misunderstanding," and this popped into my head. Thought it was fun.

Olivia checked her phone for the time and sighed. It was only half-past eight and she had promised herself she would stay out until at least nine. When Rollins had offered to take Noah for a Friday night and all day Saturday the idea of having a night and day off from both the responsibilities of work and motherhood seemed great but in reality, it was just boring. She had gotten off work late, had stopped at her favourite Thai place for dinner, and then came for a drink. The Lieutenant looked at the background of her phone, a picture of Noah playing in the leaves at Central Park, and sighed. It seemed like a waist of a night off if she went home so she sat at the bar and waited out the clock feeling pathetic.   
“Is this seat taken?” A woman’s voice asked.   
“No, go ahead.” Olivia replied automatically. When she turned her head, she was shocked to see Rita Calhoun sitting on the barstool next to her ordering a drink. “Rita?”   
“Regretting saying the seat wasn’t taken?”   
“Sort of.” Olivia shrugged.   
“Come on, I’m not actually the devil.” Rita accepted her drink. “Want to go get a booth?”  
“Why?”  
“You’re here alone and bored and so am I. Come on.” Rita slid off the stool and headed towards an empty booth. Olivia didn’t know why she followed.   
They sat there and sipped their drinks in silence for a few moments. “I still don’t fully understand why you want to be sitting here and drinking with me.”  
“I thought we bonded since the Abby Stewart case.”   
“You defend serial killers and rapists.”  
“I also thought we got past that.” Rita replied. “Look, I just saw you and thought that maybe you wanted some company. I wasn’t looking to sit here and debate how every person has the right to fair council but I will if you want to.”  
“Alright, fine.” Olivia took a sip of her drink and still tried to figure out why she was sitting there with Rita Calhoun and the two fell into silence. Olivia finished her drink and before she could explain that she was leaving Rita called over the waiter and ordered them another round.   
“Did you know that Barba and I went to school together?” Rita broke the silence.   
“Really?” Olivia replied. “I knew you went to Harvard law too but he never mentioned that you two were in the same year.”   
“Not just law school. We’ve known each other since our first semesters of our undergraduate. We both majored in history and political science and our dorms were in the same building.”   
“I can’t believe he never mentioned that.” Olivia chuckled. “So, I have to know – what was eighteen-year-old Barba like?”   
“Quiet.”   
“Really?”  
“Really.” Rita chuckled. “I think I’m partially responsible for him no longer being that way. When he got to Harvard he was actually quite shy. I think he was intimated because of where he came from but damn he was smart. It pissed me off that he kept getting better grades but wouldn’t debate much in class. Eventually, I bothered him so much that he started to engage. By the end of law school our arguments had become legendary.”   
“A shy Barba … hard to imagine.” Olivia shook her head.   
“So, are you two …”   
“Barba?” Olivia shook her head. “No, no. We’re not involved.”   
“Really? He’s into you.”   
“No, he isn’t.”   
“I know Rafael and I know when he likes someone.”   
“Wait, were you two?”   
“He asked me out once in third year but … no, we were never involved.”   
“Oh, well you’re wrong about this one Rita.”   
“If you say so.” Calhoun ordered another round. They chatted for the next couple of hours and drank a few more rounds. After a while Olivia forgot that she was talking to Rita Calhoun, defence lawyer, and eventually was just chatting with a nice, and surprisingly funny, woman. They talked about Barba and Calhoun going to school together, about when Calhoun worked for the prosecution when she was younger, about the time Benson spent as a beat cop in Brooklyn before she started at SVU, about Noah, and even about Rita’s failed marriage.   
“We got married right out of law school and divorced two years later.” Rita explained. “I was young and naïve and married to the job. Rafael was actually great then. He was really there for me.”   
“Don’t you find it hard to argue against him in court when you have such a close past?”  
“Not really.” Calhoun shrugged. “Even when we were close friends in school, and later when we both worked for the DA’s office in Brooklyn, we still spent most of our time together arguing. It’s natural for us.”   
“Is that why you can sit here with me even though you defend the people I arrest? You can separate work and personal life so easily?”  
“Not easily but mostly, yes, I can.” Calhoun shrugged. “I defend people’s right to not have the law only work against them. I don’t see myself as a defender of criminals – I’m a defender of our legal system and people’s rights within it.”  
“Oh,” Olivia couldn’t manage much more. She had spent the majority of her adult life hating defence lawyers and had rarely ever thought of them as having motivations beyond getting paid, in Calhoun’s case, a lot of money. The Abbey Stuart case had changed her perception and that perception kept shifting that night. Rita Calhoun was no longer the evil defence attorney. Rita Calhoun was a woman that she was having a, shockingly, fun night with.   
“So, you have the night off from motherhood?” Calhoun asked as they finished their drinks.   
“I do.”   
“Want to come back to my place for a drink? I was given a very nice bottle of merlot that I haven’t had the chance to drink.”   
“That sounds nice.” Olivia replied and for, not the first time that night, surprised herself with the words that came out of her mouth. Rita paid the bill for both of them, despite Benson’s objections, and as they stepped outside Rita began looking for a cab. As they waited Olivia wrapped an arm around Rita’s waist, pulled her in close, and pressed her lips against the lawyers.   
“For one night, can you just be Rita and I’ll just be Olivia?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to make this a multi-chapter fic but people asked for it and I thought it could be fun so, here we go!

“Hey Lieu?” Carisi’s voice interrupted Benson’s thoughts as she filled out paperwork. “Luke’s father, and his lawyer, are here. They want to talk to you.”   
“Ah, let me guess, Buchannan?” Benson raised and eyebrow and she moved towards the door. The suspect, Luke, was an eighteen-year-old rich, frat boy at Thompson Rivers and had lawyered up immediately.   
“Calhoun.” Carisi replied. Benson stopped in her tracks. It had been nearly three weeks since the night in the bar and since then the two women had had no contact with each other. It wasn’t that Olivia regretted her night with the lawyer but having to face her now, in a professional environment, made her stomach flip. Olivia took a deep breath and followed the detective.   
The redheaded lawyer stood in the middle of the precinct in a blue-grey skirt suit and her usual confidence. Next her was a middle-aged man in an expensive suit and a look of irritation. “Ah, Lieutenant.” Calhoun greeted. “This is Jeremy Barnes, Luke’s father. I trust we can see him now?”  
“As his lawyer, you can but Mr. Barnes will have to wait out here. You know that.” Benson replied sharply. “Carisi, why don’t you get him some coffee.” Carisi nodded and motioned for the other man to follow him while Rita turned on her heel towards the interrogation room. Benson followed the lawyer.   
“Rita, wait.” Olivia tentatively reached out for her arm.   
“Yes, Lieutenant?” Rita pulled away from the other woman’s touch. Olivia looked for any sign of the woman who she had met in the bar the other night and not the all-business, slightly cold lawyer standing in front of her.   
“Are you actually taking on this case?”   
“Well I am one of the best defense lawyers in the city so yes, I think I am capable of that.”   
“I know you’re capable but …” Olivia sighed. “Isn’t it a little inappropriate?”   
“Like I said, I can separate my personal and professional life.” Calhoun replied firmly. “I need a few minutes alone with my client.” Rita reached for the handle and turned back to Benson. “Also, just for one night. Remember?”   
Olivia exhaled, ran her hand through her hair and turned to see Fin standing just behind her – eyes wide. “Detective.” Benson tried to make her voice sound natural.   
“None of my business.” Fin replied casually. “I just wanted to let you know that Barba called, he’ll be here in about five minutes. Probably had to stop to grab one of those fancy coffees.” The detective joked and turned away. Olivia exhaled and felt her knees goes a bit weak. She knew that if anyone had to overhear them Fin was the best one to. He kept to himself and had, on more than one occasion in their many years of working together, found out about one of her secrets and had never told anyone or tried to talk to her about it. Still, it was embarrassing and the precise reason that she should not be sleeping with defense attorneys.


End file.
